Via Yahoo News, an AP story: Audit faults bird flu tests for poultry. Excerpt:
The Bush administration lacks a comprehensive plan for testing and monitoring bird flu in commercial poultry, a federal audit says.
The industry is testing every flock for bird flu, but the tests are voluntary and there is no method for reporting findings to the government, the Agriculture Department's inspector general said Tuesday.
As a result, the department does not know the extent of surveillance being done and is not gathering consistent data that would indicate whether the deadly Asian strain of bird flu is present or how widespread it is.
In response to the criticism, the department provided a strategy for assembling such a plan.
The inspector general's recommendations "have only furthered our plans to prepare and respond to any avian influenza outbreak," said department spokeswoman Karen Eggert.
